www.talkcyprus.org

[respiridus]

The annual report of economic freedom by country for 2006 is out. The report is compiled each year by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal. According to the report:

Cyprus
Score: 1.90 (last year's 2.13)
Assessment: Free
Rank: 16th
URL: http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Cyprus

Greece
Score: 2.80 (last year's 2.80)
Assessment: Mostly Free
Rank: 57th
URL: http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Greece

Turkey
Score: 3.11 (last year's 3.41)
Assessment: Mostly Unfree
Rank: 85th
URL: http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Turkey

The entire report can be found here:

http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/

Note: I've just changed the title of this post to one that will hopefully attract more "customers" ;-)

[Xenos 2Fan]

Cyprus GDP growth rate at 4% and Turkey's almost 9%. Pretty damn impressive.

I was also impressed about property protection in Cyprus. :wink:

[Crash Test Dummy]

i am doing an economics course about markets and market failure. intresting on 2 levels 8)

am planning to make my final peice of coursework Cyprus related 8)

[respiridus]

Quote: Cyprus GDP growth rate at 4% and Turkey's almost 9%. Pretty damn impressive.

Cyprus GDP growth is still pretty good, given facts such as:
1. Existing tension and/or war in nearby Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, coupled with the threat of terrorism.
2. Political uncertainty after the Annan plan referendums.
3. Rising oil prices.
4. Expectation that, after joining the EU, growth would be limited.
5. The not-so-distant stockmarket crash.

Turkey's GDP growth has also improved in an impressive way, especially after the start of accession negociations with the EU. They have to do something about economic freedom though, if they want this to continue. A recent statement be Erdogan, that they would "gladly accept investments from the US, EU, Russia, and China" (leaving everybody else out) is not very constructive in my opinion.

Greece would better watch it: The Olympic Games are history now, and they need to improve sectors other than turism if they want to have a chance.

Quote: I was also impressed about property protection in Cyprus.

Compared to Cyprus, property protection in many countries is a joke. In Greece, for example, they have only recently started to form a land registry, a process that will take many, many years to complete. It's still the used practice in Greece to transfer property using legal agreements; most people don't even know what a title is. And, in Britain, it is possible for someone to gain rights to a property by simply using it without the owner's concent. For example, if you are on vacation and someone enters your home and stays there for a couple of weeks, you will find it very difficult to kick him out. :lol:

[Xenos 2Fan]

respiridus wrote: Quote: Cyprus GDP growth rate at 4% and Turkey's almost 9%. Pretty damn impressive.

Cyprus GDP growth is still pretty good, given facts such as:
1. Existing tension and/or war in nearby Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, coupled with the threat of terrorism.
2. Political uncertainty after the Annan plan referendums.
3. Rising oil prices.
4. Expectation that, after joining the EU, growth would be limited.
5. The not-so-distant stockmarket crash.

Turkey's GDP growth has also improved in an impressive way, especially after the start of accession negociations with the EU. They have to do something about economic freedom though, if they want this to continue. A recent statement be Erdogan, that they would "gladly accept investments from the US, EU, Russia, and China" (leaving everybody else out) is not very constructive in my opinion.

Greece would better watch it: The Olympic Games are history now, and they need to improve sectors other than turism if they want to have a chance.

Quote: I was also impressed about property protection in Cyprus.

Compared to Cyprus, property protection in many countries is a joke. In Greece, for example, they have only recently started to form a land registry, a process that will take many, many years to complete. It's still the used practice in Greece to transfer property using legal agreements; most people don't even know what a title is. And, in Britain, it is possible for someone to gain rights to a property by simply using it without the owner's concent. For example, if you are on vacation and someone enters your home and stays there for a couple of weeks, you will find it very difficult to kick him out. :lol:

The same goes for Turkey in terms of renting out property. It can take years to evict someone. And if you are financing your properties through a bank you can pretty much count on bankruptcy.

The USA isn't that safe either. I have a friend that tried to evict a tennant for 6 months. That's about how long it legally takes to evict someone in Texas. Laws vary in other states of the union.

PS. Re Respi,
I agree with you 100% that Turkey needs play with everyone thast wants to. They moving in that direction. We're gonna have to , to maintain that wicked growth.

[respiridus]

Kicking out tennants is tricky in Cyprus too. There's a law that says that, as long as he pays the rent, you can't kick him out (but you have the right to raise the rent at a rate of 10% each year).

What I was talking about was kicking out people who are illegaly using your property. Unlike Britain, you can kick them out very easily in Cyprus, and even put them in jail.

[Crash Test Dummy]

i knew somebody who had a tennant that was refusing to pay rent and claimed squatters rights. This meant they could legally stay there until a court ruling was delivered (about 6-7 months) all you have to do is send round some friends

[Xenos 2Fan]

respiridus wrote: Kicking out tennants is tricky in Cyprus too. There's a law that says that, as long as he pays the rent, you can't kick him out (but you have the right to raise the rent at a rate of 10% each year).

What I was talking about was kicking out people who are illegaly using your property. Unlike Britain, you can kick them out very easily in Cyprus, and even put them in jail.

What a pleasant experience. You go off on vacation and find squatters in your home upon your return. :lol:

[Crash Test Dummy]

if they did not use forced entry. Eg you went on holiday leaving a door open they can stay there and claim squatter's rights

[respiridus]

Crash Test Dummy wrote: if they did not use forced entry. Eg you went on holiday leaving a door open they can stay there and claim squatter's rights

Or a window open. I know some Cypriot guy who is a building contractor in the UK, and he has this trouble all the time. He actually orders his workers to seal windows with wooden boards at construction sites during the night...

[brother]

Xenos 2Fan wrote: respiridus wrote: Kicking out tennants is tricky in Cyprus too. There's a law that says that, as long as he pays the rent, you can't kick him out (but you have the right to raise the rent at a rate of 10% each year).

What I was talking about was kicking out people who are illegaly using your property. Unlike Britain, you can kick them out very easily in Cyprus, and even put them in jail.

What a pleasant experience. You go off on vacation and find squatters in your home upon your return. :lol:

Happened to a Greek Cypriot neighbour of mine 4 years ago when i lived in Palmers Green, came back from a 3 month cyprus holiday and found squatters in his home but rather than going to the police he went and got some mates and a van, broke the door down dragged the two that were in there to the van drove them 100 miles away into the wilderness and left them there and when the other squatter mates returned he just pretended he did not know what they were talking about while his mates fixed the door and his wife and friends cleaned up rapidly.
Of course the squatter mates called the police but when they came and walked in and found no trace or belongings of the squatters they believed him that they were talking nonsence.

Truth be it no witness or evidence summounts to no crime.

[Xenos 2Fan]

brother wrote: Xenos 2Fan wrote: respiridus wrote: Kicking out tennants is tricky in Cyprus too. There's a law that says that, as long as he pays the rent, you can't kick him out (but you have the right to raise the rent at a rate of 10% each year).

What I was talking about was kicking out people who are illegaly using your property. Unlike Britain, you can kick them out very easily in Cyprus, and even put them in jail.

What a pleasant experience. You go off on vacation and find squatters in your home upon your return. :lol:

Happened to a Greek Cypriot neighbour of mine 4 years ago when i lived in Palmers Green, came back from a 3 month cyprus holiday and found squatters in his home but rather than going to the police he went and got some mates and a van, broke the door down dragged the two that were in there to the van drove them 100 miles away into the wilderness and left them there and when the other squatter mates returned he just pretended he did not know what they were talking about while his mates fixed the door and his wife and friends cleaned up rapidly.
Of course the squatter mates called the police but when they came and walked in and found no trace or belongings of the squatters they believed him that they were talking nonsence.

Truth be it no witness or evidence summounts to no crime.

Something like that happens to me or my family god save the squatter.

[Crash Test Dummy]

my dad knows quite a lot of people who rent out property and he always used to tell me stories of sending in a dog. that normally shits people up pretty good.

[Dhavlos]

Crash Test Dummy wrote: my dad knows quite a lot of people who rent out property and he always used to tell me stories of sending in a dog. that normally shits people up pretty good.

when my grandad had his restaurant, in the 70s...if a customer was being fussy/wouldnt pay...he just called thedog, which was an old policedog, and it barked and they shat themselves! lol....couldnt do that in a restaurant today tho :(

[Crash Test Dummy]

could not even have a dog in the restaurant today :cry: